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MATT SORUM Says VELVET REVOLVER Is 'Real Close' To Finding New Singer

VELVET REVOLVER have been on hiatus since singer Scott Weiland left the group in April of 2008, but recently the band has been auditioning vocalists. Drummer Matt Sorum told VH1 Radio Networks' Dave Basner about the singer search, "We're real close [to finding the right person]. We got a guy that we like but we haven't sat around a table and said to each other, 'Okay, let’s shake hands and do this.' Hopefully we'll be able to… I mean, I know this has been going on for a while but the reality of it is [VELVET REVOLVER guitarist] Slash has been on the road [promoting his solo album] for the last year. We only started rehearsing last week after a year off and we're going to rehearse again in January with this particular person."

So what's next for the group?

"After that process, we're gonna sit down and decide if he's the guy and then at that point we'll make a record and go out on the road and tour again," Sorum said. "We all know that we want to make the right record and the right decisions and if it takes another year or two, it probably won't happen, but I feel very confident it's probably going to happen in 2011."

In a recent interview with Artisan News Service, VELVET REVOLVER bassist Duff McKagan talked about what the hold-up has been with regards to the search for the right replacement for departed frontman Scott Weiland.

"VELVET REVOLVER is not done, we're not finished, and I don't think we've made our best record yet," he said. "We'll tour again, we'll find the guy."

He added, "It's one of those things, if you concern yourself with it [too much, it starts to work against you] because there's a not to pool from out there — for our particular band. There's some great talent — we've heard some really, really good guys — but to get all of us to agree on what that… I don't know if the guy that all four of us want is ever gonna exist, but we've gotta get close."

Regarding a possible replacement for Weiland, McKagan said, "It's gotta be better than it was; it's gotta be as good, at least. And for us, it's gotta be better. And Scott is an amazing vocalist and frontman, so it's gotta be as good or better than that. We can't [step down a notch]."

VELVET REVOLVER has been without a vocalist and on hiatus since dismissing Weiland in April 2008, although there have been rumored candidates to take the job from time to time.

Slash recently finished a tour in support of his debut solo album and will work with VELVET REVOLVER for the rest of this year, before heading out on the road again in January with OZZY OSBOURNE.

VELVET REVOLVER released its first concert DVD on November 16, titled "Live In Houston". The 12-song, 78-minute disc was filmed in 2005 while the band was touring behind its 2004 debut album, "Contraband". In addition to tunes from that record, the DVD also includes songs from its members' other bands, GUNS N' ROSES and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, along with interviews with all five band members at the time.

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